Shenanigans in Nevada

Is the Nevada “Tea Party” Candidate a fraud?
Posted: 08 Mar 2010 06:50 PM PST
The Las Vegas Sun recently published a story about Scott Ashjian, the new “Tea Party” candidate in Nevada who apparently believes that if you say you’re the tea party candidate, you should be considered such. But as some in Nevada are pointing out, just because you say you are a tea party candidate doesn’t actually make it so.
For those of you unaware, a third party called the Tea Party of Nevada just registered with the SOS. I’ve been researching and emailing around ever since, and here is what I’ve come up with so far:
I cannot find any evidence that any of these principals have ever been involved in any Tea Party activities, until now. I’ve emailed a number of Tea Party organizer-activists in the state and so far, nobody has ever heard of any of the principals – except for Barry Levinson because he is a Las Vegas attorney.
I’ve now been living in Nevada for a week (I’ll be here for the rest of 2010) and I’ve already spoken with several tea party organizers across the state who believe Mr. Ashjian is in some way in this race to help Harry Reid keep his seat.
The Las Vegas Sun said the following:
One thing has become clear in the days since the mostly obscure political upstart Jon Scott Ashjian became a candidate for U.S. Senate: He’s no stooge of Sen. Harry Reid.
I’m not personally convinced that Ashjian is a “stooge” for Harry Reid, but I think it’s certainly safe to say that his agenda does not include what’s best for the movement. I say this because I believe that if Ashjian actually did care about doing what is best for the movement, he never would have gotten into the race to begin with.
In a recent guest appearance on Fox News, Ashjian is confronted with the fact that he has virtually zero support within the actual Tea Party Movement. In typical spin fashion, Ashjian deflects the question and repeats his talking points.
Several activists, bloggers and reporters are currently looking into the background of Ashjian as many are still convinced he’s an intentional spoiler. I have doubts on whether or not anything significant will be found. We have to remember that the “powers that be” have been at this for years and have millions of dollars at their disposal. If there is a coordinated effort happening, I imagine those pulling the strings have done their homework.
In other words, don’t expect to find any smoking gun on this.
But in my view, that isn’t as relevant as many are trying to make it. I believe the fact that Ashjian is even in the race is enough evidence of his blatant disregard for the wishes of the Tea Party Movement. Nevada activists, Nevada tea partiers, tea party organizers, and even national tea party related organizations (including ours) have all rebuked Ashjian and his candidacy, yet he continues on with his bid for the seat.
There is no doubt that Ashjian is the best hope Harry Reid has to keep his seat. I know it, you know it and Ashjian knows it. Ashjian will indeed pull votes away from the Republican candidate in the race, and in a race this big, those votes can and will make a world of difference.
With this in mind, our advisory committee is considering a protest in Nevada to demand that Ashjian withdraw from the race and immediately stop pretending to represent the wishes of the Tea Party Movement. We’ll have an announcement about this tomorrow, but in the meantime we would love to know how you feel.
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For Liberty,
-Eric Odom